Zhou Weiqing shook his head, saying: “I do not know as well, we’ll just have to wait and see. Alas, as the saying goes, only small-minded men and women are hard to deal with. 1 If she happens to be of a petty character, let alone the Battalion Commander position, we might even be suppressed here. However, that isn’t a big problem… If we really cannot stay here… the entire north border is massive, we can just move on and join from another spot.”
Shangguan Fei’er giggled and said: “At least you are able to look on the bright side. Well, who asked you to overdo it just now. When we first came you were still talking about keeping a low profile, and the minute you stepped onto the stage, you totally forgot about what you said. If you just stayed as a Company Leader first, would you be in so much trouble? This is the result of being too anxious to get results.”
Zhou Weiqing scratched his head, looking at Shangguan Fei’er as he chuckled, saying: “This is the first time your words make so much sense.”
Shangguan Fei’er said angrily: “What do you mean?! Are you itching to be taught a lesson again? Don’t forget, you still owe me a fight!”
Zhou Weiqing gave a humph and said: “You don’t forget as well, you still owe me twenty strikes on the buttocks!”
“You…” Shangguan Fei’er was so angry that she started breathing heavily. All of a sudden, she turned around and said: “Hmph, hit me then, hit me then, lest you keep nagging about it.”
Looking at that pert little buttocks, Zhou Weiqing felt a rush of hot air fill his brain, and he said tentatively: “Then I’ll really hit?”
Shangguan Fei’er did not say anything, looking away in a huff.
Zhou Weiqing raised his hand, striking down with it towards Shangguan Fei’er’s buttocks as the wind whistled. He could sense her tensing tightly as soon as he did so.
*Pak*
Despite the sound and speed his palm had been moving, the final hit was soft. When Zhou Weiqing’s hand landed on her buttocks, there was no pain, as if more a caress than a hit.
There was no pain like she expected, and Shangguan Fei’er relaxed her body, thinking to herself: At least this rascal has some conscience in him after all, he did not bear to really hit me.
For her, relaxing her body was one thing, but to Zhou Weiqing, it was a whole different experience. As his hand landed on Shangguan Fei’er’s shapely bottom, he could clearly feel that soft, smooth satiny velvet skin, blocked only by a few layers of clothing. The miraculous thing was that taut buttocks slowly relaxed, allowing him to feel the roundness, softness… Such a feeling, was like having a hand scratch an itch in his heart. Originally, the hand that should have lifted up could not bear to do so, and instead pinched down instead…
Shangguan Fei’er shuddered, staggering a step forward to escape those devil palms. “You…” Turning around abruptly, she stared at Zhou Weiqing. However, from her large watery eyes, Zhou Weiqing did not see any anger within.
“I only hit you once…” Zhou Weiqing quickly calmed himself down, hiding his embarrassment. After all, Shangguan Fei’er was his sister in law, how could he just touch her like that; he berated himself inwardly.
“You terrible scoundrel!” Shangguan Fei’er finally grew angry, charging forward and grabbing Zhou Weiqing’s right arm.
Zhou Weiqing did not resist; after all he was the one in the wrong; with his physique, he could let her assuage her anger by throwing him around a little.
However, the next instant, he did not sense himself flying about like usual. Instead, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand, and Shangguan Fei’er had actually bit down on his hand instead!
“Eerr… Are you a dog?!” Zhou Weiqing said in pain.
“Hmph! I wanted to bite you, so what!” Shangguan Fei’er’s voice was forced out through gritted teeth.
Zhou Weiqing suddenly laughed out loud. “Fine, bite me then, bite me then. You can bite me even longer.”
It was Shangguan Fei’er’s turn to start in surprise. Could it be that her bite was not painful? What kind of reaction was that? But… he was clearly in pain just now! Yet, why did he suddenly seem to happy instead.
Just as she was puzzling over the matter, she suddenly heard Zhou Weiqing say: “The word ‘bite’ has a lot of meaning to it. When it is together, it is bite, but if you split the word apart, from left to right, what is it?”
“Split apart left and right? Bite… split apart into two…” 2
Shangguan Fei’er immediately opened her mouth, releasing his hand. After a moment of dazed shock, her hidden beautiful face below her disguise flushed a deep red, though no one could witness it.
“Zhou Little Fatty… you bastard!”
*PENG*
As the saying goes, the suffering we bring on ourselves is the hardest to bear. As such, the one who ran off his mouth without thinking once again had an intimate contact with the cold hard floor.
“Heroine, please forgive me! I was just kindly reminding you of the power of words…”
“Softer please… my arm is breaking… I’m wrong… I’m wrong… please…”
After about fifteen minutes of torture, Shangguan Fei’er finally released Zhou Weiqing, turning her head around huffily and ignoring him, still flushing in a mix of anger and embarrassment. Whenever she thought about how that rascal said ‘bite me then, bite me then. You can bite me even longer’, she couldn’t help but feel an urge to kill him.
They had already been in the headquarters tent for quite a while, but the Regiment Commander Shen Bu still had not come yet, as if she had forgotten about them.
Zhou Weiqing’s stomach was growling in hunger, and he had no choice but to take out some dry rations and eat first to tide himself over.
“Hey, give me some, how can you just by yourself.” Shangguan Fei’er turned around to see Zhou Weiqing munching on his dry rations with gusto, and she couldn’t help but ask for some as well. After all, she had also not eaten for the whole day, and she did not have the habit of bringing food around with her, and all along she had gotten food from Zhou Weiqing.
Zhou Weiqing gave a humph and said: “Weren’t you just too angry a while ago? Anger makes one full, why do you still need to eat?!” He had just been beaten up by Shangguan Fei’er, and his body was still aching; the ‘romantic feeling’ from his previous actions had long disappeared.
“Enough nonsense, are you giving me or not?” Shangguan Fei’er glared at him angrily.
A wise man does not fight when the odds are against him. Without hesitation, Zhou Weiqing agreed, passing her some rations.
Even after the two of them had finished their simple meal, Shen Bu still had not arrived, causing them to wonder if she had actually really forgotten about them.
“Still no one… what do we do?” Shangguan Fei’er asked Zhou Weiqing.
Zhou Weiqing glanced at her and said: “Since we are already here,we might as well make the best of the situation. I’m going to cultivate; anyway we have a tent above our heads to block us from wind and rain, does it matter where we cultivate?”
As he said that, he sat right down in a cross-legged fashion, once again starting to cultivate that miraculous yet tragic Immortal Deity Technique. At the same time, he also started to think back on the fight between himself and Shen Bu.
Although he had won that fight, it had been a very close shave, and more so because of Shen Bu’s underestimation of him. Zhou Weiqing affirmed his resolve to spend some to continue training his various Skills once he had stabilized his position in the army, making full use of the three-thousand tempering training method. At least, he wanted to fully grasp the use of all his Skills. No matter how powerful a Skill was, if he was not able to use them well, he would never be able to maximise their potential. The Skills that he had used the three-thousand tempering method to train in were obviously much better in actual combat.
As he thought about that, he slowly entered a meditation state, and the surrounding atmospheric Heavenly Energy started pouring into the sixteen energy whirlpools at an increased rate, slowly merging with his internal Heavenly Energy and strengthening his cultivation level.
After months of cultivating and experimenting, Zhou Weiqing had discovered that the Heavenly Energy Devoured from others, while much faster, was not too good for a stable foundation. Although in the process of Devouring, he would already cleanse and meld the Heavenly Energy, it was still clearly not a thick and stable as those he had cultivated by himself. As such, he decided that he would try to refrain from using the Devour Skill too much, and in between every time he used it, he would have to use the most basic cultivation to stabilize his own Heavenly Energy and build a proper foundation. Although his current cultivation level was only at the Four-Jeweled stage, he did not want to rush, especially at the expense of his future. He already had many Skills, sufficient for his usage, and the Immortal Deity Technique and Devour Skill to help in sustainability.
After all, he was not even eighteen years old yet, and he had so much time ahead of him. The most important thing for him was to take things step by step, to build a proper foundation for his future cultivation. Everything else aside, that Immortal Deity Technique of his would absolutely require him to have a strong, stable foundation… Zhou Weiqing did not want to die before his time due to an accidental implosion from that cultivation technique.
Having gone through the trials and tribulations of the entire Heavenly Jewel Tournament, as well as the tempering of his mind and soul due to what had happened to the Heavenly Bow Empire, Zhou Weiqing was much more mature now. He had raged, had been urgent, and cultivated in a frenzy… all of that had forced him to grow up.
Seeing Zhou Weiqing sit down cross legged, a quiet, peaceful look of concentration on his face, Shangguan Fei’er couldn’t help but stare blankly at him. This fellow, he was sometimes so hateful, yet he always had some interesting and extraordinary thoughts, different from everyone else… was Bing’er attracted to him because of this? Being alongside him, although his actions often made one angry, in truth she had never really been that offended deep in her heart. Every day spent on the road seemed much more substantial because of him. Bing’er… perhaps I am starting to feel envious of you… but just now… that scoundrel… actually dared stroke my buttocks… Hmph!
As such, the time passed… It was almost four hours from the time Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er had entered the headquarter tent that footsteps finally sounded from outside.
Both of them had extraordinary senses, and they simultaneously broke out of their meditative state and opened their eyes, standing up.
Shen Bu entered the tent, her face in a cold mask. She was followed by a dozen of her personal guards, but she paused at the entrance of the tent, waved her hands for the guards to stay outside.
A Regiment Commander was in charge of a troop of ten thousand men, and if they were in the Heavenly Bow Empire, she would be considered one of the highest ranking in the entire army. Zhou Weiqing was subtly reminded of his own homeland, and couldn’t help but feel a sudden ache in his heart.
“You, go out.” Shen Bu pointed at Shangguan Fei’er.
Shangguan Fei’er had never been talked down to and commanded in such a way before, and she almost lost her temper then. Zhou Weiqing quickly pulled at her from behind, stopping her in her tracks, and he gave a soft slap on her pert buttocks once more.
Shangguan Fei’er’s entire body weakened, the anger that had just rose up within her dissipated. Glaring at Zhou Weiqing, she turned to walk out, leaving Shen Bu and Zhou Weiqing alone in the huge tent.
Shen Bu walked to the seat at the center of the tent and sat down. At this moment, she had changed to a brilliant silver coloured ring mail, and her helmet was tipped with the yellow feather of a Regiment Commander.
In the ZhongTian Empire Army, a Company Leader’s helmet feather was red, while a Battalion Commander’s was orange, a Regiment Commander’s yellow, and a Legion Commander’s green. The force commander’s would be cyan, while the field marshal or overall commanding officer’s blue. The supreme commander of the Empire’s one would be purple in colour. 3
Just seated there, Shen Bu stared at Zhou Weiqing unerringly without speaking, but the cold in her gaze caused his entire body to feel the chills deep within.